It is a wise mans part, rather to avoid sickness, than to wishe for medicines. ~Thomas More, Utopia

It is a wise mans part, rather to avoid sickness, than to wishe for medicines. ~Thomas More, Utopia
It is a wise mans part, rather to avoid sickness, than to wishe for medicines. ~Thomas More, Utopia

Tuesday, 24 December 2013

QUESTIONS

Question: 
1.What are the objectives of the tests for uniformity of diameter and uniformity of content ?
The uniformity of diameter should be achieved for the appearance of the tablet should be elegant and its weight, size and appearance should be consistent, also to remove any doubt arisen. The content uniformity test is used to ensure that every tablet contains the amount of drug substance intended with little variation among tablets within a batch.

2. State the types of tablets and capsules that must be tested for uniformity of diameter and uniformity of content.
All coated and uncoated tablets and all capsules intended for oral administration where the range of size of the dosage form available include 50mg or smaller sizes.


3. Give reasons for the non-compliance to test for uniformity of weight.
i. The test is limits for the average weight of uncoated compressed tablets only.

ii. The weight of every single tablets is varies among each other. 
iii. The human error may occurred especially during weighting the tablets. 


4.  why does dissolution test suitable to be used for batch to batch quality control?
Dissolution of taste-masked bulk drug is an important test method for both product development and quality control.  This process is suitable to batch-to-batch quality control as the consistency can be assured, and dissolution data on the taste-masked drug is frequently predictive of dissolution of the tableted product.The USP 2 paddle apparatus at 50-100 rpm suitable for dissolution testing of taste-masked drug as well.The media used for the taste-masked drug should match that of the finished product to maximize the value of the test.  Dissolution test is an essential part of drug development,where information on test batches used in bioavailability/bioequivalence studies and pivotal clinical studies to support specifications for quality control can be obtained.


5. Explain the difference found in the procedure for dissolution test in United States Pharmacopoeia and the British pharmacopoeia.
For the ‘ sink conditions’ the British Pharmacopoeia(BP) define as a volume of test fluid at least 5 to 10 times saturation volume while United Stated Pharmacopoeia(USP) define as not less than three times that required to form a saturated solution of the drug substances.

Test conditions are chosen to provide a ‘gentle hydrodynamic regimen’. Test fluids that are closer to physiological media are preferred to those composed of mixtures of water and organic solvents or to solutions containing surfactants. BP consider that the limits applied to this test offer an acceptable of assurance of total dissolution while USP use a pragmatic approach to try and find compromise conditions that satisfied all cases.


PRACTICAL V : CONTENT OF IBUPROFEN

TITLE
Content of ibuprofen (assay)

OBJECTIVE
To determine and verify the amount of active ingredient of ibuprofen per tablet.

INTRODUCTION
The assay is to determine and verify the exact amount of the active ingredient of ibuprofen per tablet. 20 ibuprofen tablets were selected at random to identify the exact amount of the active ingredient per tablet.

METHODLOGY
i)        Apparatus and materials
20 tablets of ibuprofen, 100ml of ethanol, phenolphthalein, 0.1M sodium hydroxide, chloroform, mortar , dryer, burette , conical flasks , filtrate paper and filter funnel.

ii)       Procedure
1. 20 ibuproven tablets are crunched and weighted.
2. A quantify of powder containing 0.5g ibuproven was extracted with 20ml chloroform for 15 minutes and filtered through a sintered glass crucible (BS Porosity no 1).
3. The residue was being washed 3 x 10 ml of chloroform and gently evaporate the combined filtrate just to dryness in a current of air. The residue was dissolved in 100ml with ethanol (96 %) previously neutralized to phenolphthalein solution.
4. The solution was titrated with 0.1M sodium hydroxide to end point with phenolphthalein solution as indicator.


RESULT AND CALCULATION

Weight of 20 ibuprofen : 8.2269 g

Each ibuprofen tablet contain 200mg
20 ibuprofen x 200 mg = 4000mg or 4g

Total weight of powder required = (0.5 g x 8.2269 g) / 4 g
                                                            = 1.028 g

Theoretically 1.028g contain of 0.5 g of ibuprofen

Volume of 0.1M sodium hydroxide (end point) = 21.7ml

Thus, 21.7 ml x 0.02063 g of C13H802 = 0.4477 g

DISCUSSION

     After being titration, 21.7ml of sodium hydroxide turn the solution of ethanol with the residue to light purple. Each ml of 0.1M sodium hydroxide is equivalent to 0.02063 g of C13H802.  Thus, 21.7 ml  is equivalent to 0.4477 g of C13H802.  However, the exact amount is 0.5 g.  This is due to several errors that occurred during the experiment.

     Firstly, error occurred during the crunching of the tablets which the powders are out from the mortar since the size of the mortal was small. This will reduce the exact amount of the active ingredient in the powder.

     Secondly, error occurred during the extraction and washing with chloroform. The conical flask did not been clean properly which left the residue in the flask that might be the active ingredient, ibuprofen.

CONCLUSION

Assay will determine the amount of the active ingredient in the tablet. To avoid the errors, bigger size of mortar is required to avoid the powder out from the mortar and make sure the conical flask is being wash properly so that all the residue being filtered and dry to get the exact amount of active ingredient.

REFERENCE

http://www.newdruginfo.com/pharmacopeia/usp28/v28230/usp28nf23s0_m39890.htm


PRACTICAL IV : DOSAGE PERFORMANCE TEST

TITLE
Experiment 4: Dosage performance tests

OBJECTIVES
1.      To determine the time needed for tablet dosage form disintegrate in the different disintegration mediums.
2.      To determine the percentage of amount of Ibuprofen tablet dissolute/dissolve in the dissolution medium.

INTRODUCTION 
For a drug to be absorbed from a solid dosage form after oral administration, it must first be in solution, and the first important step toward this condition is usually the break-up of the tablet; a process known as disintegration. The disintegration test is a measure of the time required under a given set of conditions for a group of tablets to disintegrate into particles.
Solid dosage forms may or may not disintegrate when they interact with gastrointestinal fluid following oral administration depending on their design. For disintegrating solid oral dosage forms, disintegration usually plays a vital role in the dissolution process since it determines to a large extent the area of contact between the solid and liquid. However it is well known that considerable dissolution of the drug can take place before complete disintegration of the dosage form, a phenomenon which depends largely on the mechanism of disintegration and certain physicochemical properties of the drug, such as its solubility. This could be important when considering the motility of the drug or dosage form, and the release of the drug at specific sites, in the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, correlations have been established between disintegration times and dissolution rates for various pharmaceutical tablets.

EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

Apparatus: 1L beaker, 3 test tubes, syringe, 50mL volumetric flask, 10mL measuring cylinder.
Materials and chemical: 3 tablets of Uphamol 500mg, 3 tablets Ibuprofen, buffer solution.


PROCEDURES
Disintegration test procedure
1. The disintegration test equipment was set up by following the instructions in the manual of operation.
2. 500 mL of distilled water was added into the beaker and then added to the disintegration machine. Then, the water was left until the temperature of water is about 37°C.
3. The time was set up to 60 minutes. Three Uphamol tablets were added into each tube with another 3 tablet of from another group. Then, the disk was added into each tube before started the operation.
4.     The tablet in each tube was checked whether it is pass the test or not at the end of the operation.
5. The tablets pass the test if all disintegrate within 60 minutes. If there is any tablet that does not disintegrate, the tablets are pressed. When they disintegrate as we pressed, it also means that the tablet comply with the test.

Dissolution test procedure
1. Dissolution vessel was filled with the buffer solution to 900 ml mark. The temperature was settled to 37°C.
2. One Ibuprofen Tablet was placed into each dry basket assembly.
3. The stirring speed was settled to 150 rpm. The basket assembly was lowered into position in the vessel and the operation was stated.
4.    10 ml samples of the dissolution medium was withdrawal using syringes that include with filter to prevent any solid d particle from drug enter the solution from each vessel for analysis and filter the solution using suitable filter. Sampling should be done from a point half-way between the surface of the dissolution medium and the top of the rotating basket, and not less than 10 mm from the wall of the vessel.
5.    A standard solution of ibuprofen was prepared by diluting 10.0 mg of ibuprofen reference standard to 50 ml with dissolution medium.
6.       4.0 ml of sample solution was diluted and 4.0 ml of standard solution was diluted to 25 ml with dissolution medium in separate 25 mL of volumetric flasks.
7.      The absorption of both solutions was measured in a 1 cm cell at a wavelength of 221 nm.
8.   The percentage amount of ibuprofen dissolved was calculated using the following formula:
At/As × W× P × 900 × 25/2 × 100/200
Where
At= absorbance of sample solution
As = absorbance of the standard solution
 W = weight of ibuprofen reference standard used.
P = purity of ibuprofen reference standard.
9. From the results obtained, determine whether the tablets comply with the requirements of the United States Pharmacopoeia. USP limits: Not less than 75% of the stated amount of C13H18O2 dissolved in 30 minutes.



RESULTS AND CALCULATIONS

Disintegration test for sugar-coated tablets
Our group used three tablets of Uphamol 500mg where each was placed in separated test tubes and then inserted into disintegration medium (distilled water at 38 ̊C). The time needed for the tablets to disintegrate completely is 10 minutes 11 seconds. The tablets can be easily disintegrate in the distilled water which mean it does not required to be tested its disintegration in acidic disintegration medium.
Dissolution test for tablets
One tablet of Ibuprofen is inserted into a dry basket assembly and connected to dissolution vessel.  Then, it is lowered into a dissolution medium (distilled water at 39.3 ̊C) and the stirring speed was set for 30minutes. The operation was started.  After 30 minutes, 10mL of the sample (Ibuprofen solution) is taken out using syringe.  From the 10mL sample, only 4mL is taken out and diluted with buffer solution in the 50mL volumetric flask until calibration mark. 4mL of standard Ibuprofen solution is also be diluted with buffer solution in the 50mL volumetric flask until calibration mark.
The percentage amount of Ibuprofen dissolved is calculated using the formula 
% amount Ibuprofen dissolved= Aŧ/Aṣ x W/50 x 2/25 x P x 900 x 25/2 x 100/200
Where      Aŧ       = absorbance of sample Ibuprofen solution
                  Aṣ       = absorbance of standard Ibuprofen solution
                  W       = weight of Ibuprofen reference standard used (10mg)
                  P        = purity of Ibuprofen reference standard
Ibuprofen solution
Absorbance value
Sample
0.409
Standard
3.068

 % amount of Ibuprofen dissolved     = 0.409/3.068 x 10/50 x 2/25 x 0.98 x 900 x 25/2 x 100/200
= 11.76 %
The tablets are not complying with the requirements of United States Pharmacopeia (not less than 75% of Ibuprofen dissolved in 30 minutes).

DISCUSSION
There are some errors during conducting the disintegration test of drug. One of the errors is the temperature used for disintegration medium which is needed to be ± 37 °C. It cannot be too low as the drug will be disintegrated slower.

The used of different tablets give different time requires for the drugs to be disintegrated. The coated tablets will take longer time to disintegrate compared to the uncoated tablets.
The dissolution test measures the amount of time required for certain percentage of the drug substance in a tablet to go into solution under a specified set of conditions. It describes a step towards physiological availability of the drug substance, but it is not designed to measure the safety or efficacy of the tablet being tested. The dissolution medium must be aqueous and the pH of the medium should be controlled.

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the dissolution process in vivo.


CONCLUSION
The time needed for the three tablets of Uphamol 500mg to disintegrate completely in the disintegration medium (distilled water) at temperature ± 37 °C is 10 minutes 11 seconds.

While % amount of Ibuprofen dissolved is 11.76 %.It does not comply with the requirements of United States Pharmacopeia (not less than 75% of Ibuprofen dissolved in 30 minutes) as the Ibuprofen tablet used has reached it expiry date.


REFERENCES 


PRACTICAL III : UNIFORMITY OF WEIGHT OF TABLETS AND CAPSULES

TITLE
Uniformity of Weight of Tablets And Capsules

OBJEKTIF

i. To determine the percentage deviation of tablets and capsules.
ii. To determine the uniformity of weight of tablets and capsules.


THEORY
The weight uniformity test is used to ensure that every tablet contains the amount of drug substance intended with little variation among tablets within a batch. Due to increased awareness of physiological availability, the weight uniformity test has been included in the monographs of all tablets and all capsules intended for oral administration where the range of size of the dosage form available include 50mg or smaller sizes. Tablet monographs with a weight uniformity requirement do not have weight variation requirements. Furthermore, the uniformity of weight of tablets and capsule indicate the quality control of specific batch of tablets and capsules. 


METHOLOGY
I. MATERIALS AND APPARATUS
20 tablets, 20 capsules, electronic balance.

II. PROCEDURES

Tablets:
1. 20 selected tablets were weighted previously. The average weight was determined.
2. Tablets were weighted and individually for each tablet, the percentage deviation of it’s weight from average weight was determined. 
3. The deviation of individual eight from average weight should not exceed the limits given below.

Capsules:
1. 20 capsules were selected at random.
2. One capsule was weighted. Capsule was opened and the contents were removed as completely as possible. The emptied shells were weighted. The net weight of it’s contents was determined, that is  by substracting the weight of the shells from the weight of the intact capsule.
3. The procedure was repeated with other 19 capsules.
4. The average net weight was determined from the sum of the individual net weights.
5. The percentage deviation was determined from the average net weight for each capsule. The deviation of individual net weight should not exceed the limits given below.







RESULTS


Tablets

Average weight: 13.1717g
The average net weight: 0.6586g
Tablets
The weight of individual tablets/g
The percentage deviation/ %
1
0.6563
-0.35
2
0.6636
+0.76
3
0.6625
+0.59
4
0.6587
+0.02
5
0.6601
+0.23
6
0.6638
+0.79
7
0.6577
-0.14
8
0.6696
+1.67
9
0.6570
-0.24
10
0.6587
+0.02
11
0.6427
-2.41
12
0.6561
-0.38
13
0.6423
-2.47
14
0.6554
-0.49
15
0.6551
-0.53
16
0.6630
+0.67
17
0.6595
+0.14
18
0.6575
-0.17
19
0.6746
+2.43
20
0.6575
-0.17

Capsules
Average weight: 7.1979g
The average net weight: 0.3599g
Capsules
The weight of capsules/ g
The weight of the shell only/ g
The weight of the contents/ g
The percentage deviation/ %
1
0.3562
0.0619
0.2943
-1.03
2
0.3634
0.0624
0.3010
+0.97
3
0.3535
0.0618
0.2917
-1.78
4
0.3717
0.0621
0.3096
+3.28
5
0.3570
0.0616
0.2954
-0.81
6
0.3554
0.0632
0.2922
-1.25
7
0.3521
0.0626
0.2895
-2.17
8
0.3464
0.0616
0.2848
-3.75
9
0.3616
0.0649
0.2967
-0.47
10
0.3696
0.0618
0.3078
+2.70
11
0.3678
0.0678
0.3000
+2.20
12
0.3694
0.0643
0.3051
+2.64
13
0.3511
0.0643
0.2868
-2.45
14
0.3558
0.0601
0.2957
-1.14
15
0.3643
0.0641
0.3002
+1.22
16
0.3625
0.0631
0.2994
+0.72
17
0.3764
0.0626
0.3138
+4.58
18
0.3627
0.0636
0.2991
+0.78
19
0.3612
0.0609
0.3003
+0.36
20
0.3475
0.0602
0.2873
-3.45


DISCUSSION 
From the experiment, the equation below is used to calculate the percentage of deviation of both tablets and capsules. 
(experimental weight – theoretical weight)    x 100%
                    theoritical weight 

For the tablets, the average weight for each tablet is 0.6586g which is much lesser than 80mg. So, the percentage of deviation of individual weight from the average weight should not exceed plus minus 10.0 % for minimum 18 tablets while plus minus 20.0% for maximum 2 tablets. And the deviation of all tablets are all in the range throughout the experiment. Hence, all tablets can be considered as uniform in form of weight.

For the capsules, the average weight for each capsule is 0.3599g which is much lesser than 300mg. So, the percentage of deviation of individual weight from the average weight should not exceed the limit plus minus 10.0% for minimum 18 capsules while plus minus 20.0% for maximum 2 capsules. The percentage deviation of all the selected capsules are within the range which is around plus minus 5.0%. So, the capsules are uniform in weight and can be marketed.

CONCLUSION 
For the tablets, the average weight is 13.1717g; the average net weight is 0.6586g; the range of percentage deviation is plus minus 3.0%.
For the capsules, the average weight is 7.1979g; the average net weight is 0.3599g; the range of percentage deviation is pus minus 5.0%. 
So, all of the tablets and capsules are uniform in form of weight.

REFERENCE

i. Uniformity of dosage units [Online]

ii. Content uniformity [Online]

iii. Quality control tests for tablets [Online]